Presidential candidates, step up for national parks

The time is now, and the place is Iowa, for presidential candidates to speak out for our magnificent, but troubled, national parks. Four of them had a chance to introduce the topic at the most recent Republican Party debate but said not a word. Republicans and Democrats alike are ignoring a major domestic issue and missing a golden opportunity to attract millions of voters who treasure their national parks.

Three hundred twelve million of us over the past year visited one or more of the 428 parklands, historic sites, recreation areas, shores, and scenic trails that comprise the National Park System. Americans, the true “owners” of these public lands, love their parks, but are worried about them. Many have deteriorating roads, bridges, trails, campsites, buildings, and water systems. In fact, the National Park Service (NPS) calculates in its most recent report on deferred maintenance that nearly $22 billion is needed to erase the backlog of necessary repairs for all park sites across America.

Of course, it's not only park infrastructure that is becoming untenable. The dangers to environmental and natural resources within and near national parks are rising. A changing climate contributes to retreating shorelines, increased flooding and wildfires, and the declining health of streams and trees.

Why is it, then, that with this urgent need to protect and restore our communal legacy, national parks have been virtually forgotten in the conversation for our next President? A logical answer is that parks are simply taken for granted by politicians.

So, now, it’s left up to citizens — park voters — to demand presidential candidates’ attention. Iowans participating in the nation’s first presidential electoral caucuses can lead the way. They can ask candidates a few questions, such as: will they commit to restoring parks’ infrastructure by chiseling away the huge backlog of needed repairs? Will they honor our country’s history by supporting the upkeep of battlefields, monuments and cultural sites? Will they support the dedicated employees of the NPS who serve under “confounding” leadership as revealed in an investigative report by National Parks Traveler magazine?

Campaigners should visit national park sites around the country. In Iowa, candidates can check out the fascinating Effigy Mounds National Monument. Mounds of earth, fashioned thousands of years ago by Indigenous peoples native to present-day Iowa, exist there in the shapes of birds, bear, deer, bison, lynx and other animals. Iowans will respond positively to a Presidential candidate experiencing these “sacred” grounds.

Later, while campaigning in the Super Tuesday states, candidates can gain firsthand knowledge of parks’ economic, environmental, and historical contributions to American society. At Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee and North Carolina, more than 13 million visitors last year spent over two billion dollars toward the local economy and supported 32,595 jobs in the region. When in Colorado, campaigners can take in Rocky Mountain National Park where over 4.5 million people enjoy the pristine wonders of this World Biosphere Reserve annually. Alabama’s Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site tells the inspiring story of how, during the Second World War, African Americans proved they had the ability to fly military aircraft and lead in combat. The “Red Tails,” as the aviators were called, went on to fly numerous dangerous missions in the war. The women of the “Tuskegee Experience” also contributed to America’s war effort as mechanics, guards, and control tower operators.

Presidential candidates, it’s time for you to show voters that you will care for our wondrous national parks, referred to by esteemed writer and Iowa native Wallace Stegner as "the best idea we ever had.”

A finalist for the 2023 Theodore Roosevelt Genius Prize for the Promotion of Conservation, John Plonski is a former executive of Pennsylvania's State Park and Forest Systems.